Getting Sick and Healing in the Chilean Altiplano: The Case of Putre

Abstract

This article analyzes the health policies implemented by the Chilean State in the highlands of the Arica Department to reduce morbidity, but especially to control certain epidemics that occurred in the Putre Subdelegation in the first decades of the 20th century. Despite the geopolitical importance of this territory, authorities carried out disease control intermittently, and when its spread meant a possible danger for the cities and the port of Arica. Given the lack of health infrastructure, state authorities implemented various strategies to strengthen public health policies and overcome social resistance during health crises.